Boiler-flue cleaner.



No. 784,552. PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905.

' 0. DONATZ.

I BOILER FLUE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED D110. 30, 1904.

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4 1. .3 flttorney No. 784,552. 5 PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905. 0. DONATZ.

BOILER PLUE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 30, 1904.

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Q 9/ I I 254 W ]J 3 7180 I l 9 2 9 I Patented March 14, 1965.

PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO DONATZ, OF TRENTON, NEIV JERSEY.

BOlLER-FLUE CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 784,552, dated March 14,1905.

Application filed December 30, 1904. Serial No. 239,046.

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, O'r'ro DONATZ, acitizen of the United States,residing at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boiler-FlueCleaners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus adapted to clean the fines of boilersby passing therethrough a jet or current of steam or other "apor or air.

Heretofore it has been common to locate fluecleaningapparatus at therear end of the boiler with which it is used; but such location isobjectionable, because portions of the apparatus are exposed to a fierceheat and deteriorate rapidly in consequence thereof, and the apparatussoon becomes clogged and ineflicient, and it is difiicult to get at itto repair or clean it. hen such apparatus is placed at the front end ofthe boiler, its use interferes seriously with the draft of the furnace,as the steam or other cleaning agent is forced through the finesdirectly against the current of products of combustion passingtherethrough in the opposite direction, and a very objectionable backdraft is produced.

The principal object of my invention is to provide simple and efficientapparatus for cleaning the boiler-fines in series, thus obviating theinterference with the draft of the furnace caused by a simultaneouscleaning of all the fines of the boiler; and a further object of myinvention is to provide a novel arrangement of apertures or nozzlesthrough which the cleansing agent may be discharged into the fines insuch manner as to efficiently clear the forward openings and ends of theflues of all accumulations of soot, ashes, &c.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a front View of a boiler-setting and boiler with myimproved apparatus applied thereto, said apparatus being shown partly insection. Fig. 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the valve whichoperates the apparatus and its connections. Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof said valve and its immediate connections,

- screwed tightly into said openings.

drawn on an enlarged scale. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the frontportion of a boiler, a portion of the shell being broken away,illustrating the manner in which my improved apparatus is connectedtherewith. Fig. 5 is a detail View illustrating the position of theflue-cleaners relative to the flues. Fig. 6 is a detail view showing thedischarge-apertures.

in one of the flue-cleaner pipes, and Fig. 7 is a detail view showing -amodification involving nozzles for the directing of the cleansing agentinto the fines.

In the drawings, 1 is the boiler. 2 is the manhole. 3 indicates thefines. 4 is a pipe connected, preferably, with the steam-dome of theboiler, which pipe opens into the pipe 5 and has in it the valve 6. Thepipe 5 is provided with the valve 7 and opens into the valve-box 8 andbelow its union with the pipe 4 is used as an exhaust or drain pipe toclear the pipe 4 and the valve-box 8 of condensed steam. The pipes 9,10, and 11 enter the rear wall 12 of the valve-box 8 through openingstapped therein, into which said pipes are respectively screwed and areconnected by unions with the pipe 13. This pipe 13 is provided withplugs or heads 14, 15, 16, and 17, securely and closely placed and fixedtherein, which heads serve to divide said pipe into three independentchambers, as indicated in Fig. 1. In the under side of said pipe 13 area number of openings, which are tapped to receive the upper ends of thepipes 18, 18, and 18", which pipes are threaded at their upper ends andThe several pipes 18, 18, and 18" are closed at their lower ends by thecaps 19 and depend from the pipe 13 directly in front of the forwardopenings of the boiler-fines 3. In each of said pipes 18, 18, and 18 areformed clusters of small apertures 20, which are so arranged that thecentral aperture of each cluster is located on the axis of the oppositefine 3, as indicated in Fig. 6. The pipes 9 1O 11 are preferablyarranged to open into the back wall 12 of the valve-box 8 at pointsequidistant from the center of said back wall. (See Fig. 2.) \Vithin thevalve-box 8 is contained the cirthe drip-pipe 5.

cular valve 21, which is operated by the shank 22, turned by the handle23. Through said valve 21 is a circular opening 24:. (Shown in Fig. 2and indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.) This circular opening 24: isarranged so as to register with the openings in the back Wall 12 of thevalve-box 8, leading to the pipes 9, 10, and 11 and the position of thisopening 24 is indicated upon the disk 25, as at 26, so that by turningthe pointer 27 on the handle 23 to said mark 26 it will be known thatthe said aperture 24 is registering with the opening in the rear wall ofthe valve-box which leads into pipe 10. The registering of said opening24 with the openings leading to pipes 9 and 11 is similarly indicated.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The valve 7 being open topermit the escape of water from the condensed steam, the valve 6 isopened, and the steam passing through the pipe 4 from the steam-dome ofthe boiler drives the condensed steam through The valve 7 is thenclosed, and live steam enters the valve-box 8, whereupon the handle 23is turned, so that the opening 24 in the valve 21 registers with theopening in the back wall of the valve-box leading to pipe 9, and thesteam passes through said pipe 9 into the chamber of pipe 13, connectedwith depending pipes 18", into said pipes 18 and out through theclusters of openings 20 in each of said pipes, and into the fines 3,passing therethrough, and cleaning them of soot and ashes. The handle 23is then given another one-quarter turn until the aperture 24 registerswith the opening which leads to pipe 10, whereupon the steam is cut offfrom pipe 9 and passes through pipe into the central chamber of pipe 13,from which the pipes 18 depend, and through said pipes 18, and the steampassing out of the apertures of said pipes cleans the fines 3 oppositethereto. The handle 23 is next given another one-quarter turn, and thesteam is cut off from both pipes 9 and 10, and runs into and throughpipe 11 into the third chamber of pipe 13. Thence it passes into thedepending pipes 18, issuing from the clustered apertures formed thereinand cleaning the several series of fines 3 opposite said apertures.being concluded, the handle 23 is given a turn down to the positionshown in Fig. 3, when the steam is cut ofi" from all the pipes 9, 10,and 11. The valve 6 is then closed and the valve 7 opened to permit theescape of condensed steam from the valve-box 8 through the drip-pipe 5.A The clustered apertures in the depending pipes 18, 18", and 18 areformed by drilling through the pipe on diametrical lines. The centralaperture is larger than the others and serves to project the steam intothe middle of the fine. The steam projected from The cleaning processthis central opening does not strike the surface of the flue at theentrance or forward end thereof, and the other apertures in the clusterare used to project the steam against the edge of the flue, so that theopening may be thoroughly cleaned of all ashes, &c. In cleaning fiues ofa size exceeding four inches in diameter I find it useful to provide thedepending pipes 18, 18, and 18 with nozzles similar to that shown inFig. 7. This nozzle 25 is shown in said Fig. 7 as fixed upon one of thepipes 18 opposite the fines 3. It has a central pro ecting nozzle 26 fordirecting a jet of steam through the fine 3 and several outlying nozzles27 for projecting the steam against the inner side of the flue at itsopening.

When it is desired to remove the depending pipes 18, 18, and 18 fromtheir normal position in front of the fines 3, the unions connecting thepipes 9, 10, and 11 with the pipe 13, are loosened, and the pipes 18,18*, and 18 are turned outwardly and upwardly from the end plate of theboiler, the pipe 13 turning in its bearing formed in the boiler-shell,one of which bearings is shown at 28 in Fig. 1.

As will be readily understood, my improved apparatus may be connectedwith 'an entire battery of boilers and operated with one or more valvessimilar to that shown and described. By multiplying the connectingpipesand increasing the number of openings in the valve-box the entireapparatus may be regulated by one valve.

By the use of my improved apparatus the objectionable back draft may beavoided while cleaning the boiler-fines, and the combustion is ratheraided, than retarded by the use of such apparatus.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In aflue-cleaning apparatus, a valve having two or more discharge-ports; aninletduct opening into the chamber of said valve; two or moredischarge-ducts opening respectively from the discharge-ports of saidvalve and respectively connected with separate chambers; two or moreseparate chambers, and ducts opening from said chambers and havingorifices through which the vapor, air or fluid may be ejected and passinto the fines to be cleaned.

2. In a flue-cleaning apparatus, the combination of a boiler; a ductconnecting said boiler with a valve having two or more discharge-ports;said valve; two or more dis charge-ducts opening respectively from thedischarge-ports of said valve and respectively connected with separatedistributing-chambers; said chambers, and d ucts opening from saidchambers and having orifices through which steam may be discharged intothe lines to be cleaned.

3. In a flue-cleaning apparatus, a distributi I D 784,552 A 8 ing ducthaving clusters of orifices located fines to be cleaned; substantiallyas shown and therein at points Opposite the ends of the fines described.

to be cleaned; substantially as shown and de- OTTO DON AT7 scribed. J.

5 4. In a flue-cleaning apparatus, a distribut- Witnesses:

ing-duct having multiple nozzles located on MARGE T. SIMPSON,

said duct on points Opposite the ends of the ELWOOD W. MOORE, Jr.

